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EECS Weekly News: June 20, 2017

IN THE NEWS

Total Solar Eclipse 2017: Google Simulator Lets You See What The Eclipse Will Look Like Where You LiveFor those eagerly anticipating the eclipse, Google and scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have created a simulator that allows you to watch what will happen to the sun where you live on the day. (Though they don't get credit for it on the Eclipse Megamovie site, computer science students Jacob Fenger, Bret Lorimore, and George Harder developed the simulator for Google as their senior capstone project.) Newsweek

AquaHarmonics snares $5M to scale up prize-winning wave energy deviceThe wild and wonderful ride continues for AquaHarmonics, the Portland wave energy duo of Alex Hagmuller (2009 BS ME) and Max Ginsburg (2010 BS ECE). Seven months after shocking the wave world with their $1.5 million Wave Energy Prize win, they’ve been awarded up to $5 million in U.S. Department of Energy funding to build a bigger version of their energy-converter concept and test it in the ocean. Portland Business Journal

10 strategies for beating “programmer’s block” “Writer’s Block” is a real thing, but “Programmer’s Block?” According to computer science professor at Oregon State University, Heather Knight, programmers are just as subject to getting blocked as writers, but programmers do not have a host of self-help resources with insights applicable to programming. However, she discovered that many of the writing books for writer’s block had methods that can be applied to programming. SD Times

Writing’s New Frontier: Give and “Git” in the Open Source Lab In an age of competition and ownership, the OSL and the larger open source community is working to expand a new frontier of accessibility and transparency in technology and information. The OSL is a hosting and development center for open source projects that often come from outside the lab and the university (from companies such as Facebook and IBM), as well as an experiential learning program for students in computer science. Students receive hands-on interaction with the coding and development process of real world projects. Teaching With Writing: The WIC Newsletter

Magnetic Materials for Medicine What are magnetic nanoparticles and how can they be used in medicine? Oregon State Associate Professor Pallavi Dhagat and graduate student Phil Lenox explain the very sensitive techniques they are developing using magnetic nanoparticles to detect a biomarker for disease in just a drop of blood or look deep inside the human body. Engineering Out Loud (podcast)

110 Student Rocketry Teams Will Compete in 'Spaceport America Cup'Companies all over the United States will be hunting for new rocketeers to hire during the inaugural Spaceport America Cup this week, where students will fire their rocket creations as high as 30,000 feet (9,150 meters). The competition is also an opportunity for lesser-known aerospace programs to give graduates flight opportunities in front of name-brand companies, said Nancy Squires, an adviser to the Oregon State University rocket team and an ESRA board member. Space.com

Making dreams come true: OSU grads reflect on plans for the futureBasim Iskandarani, a married 31-year-old from Medina, Saudi Arabia, who picked up a master’s degree in computer science on Saturday, realized one dream when he completed his thesis project by designing a computer game called “Ohm’s Law” that teaches the basics of physics. Corvallis Gazette-Times

NOT NEWS, BUT OF INTEREST

Job Outlook: Fall Recruiting for the Class of 2018Employer hiring plans for fall recruiting for the Class of 2018 look very promising, according to NACE’s Job Outlook 2017 Spring Update. More than three-quarters of respondents plan to be on campus recruiting for both full-time and intern/co-op positions. Furthermore, less than 2 percent of respondents are either not hiring in the fall of 2017 or in the entire 2017-18 recruiting year. National Association of Colleges and Employers

OPPORTUNITIES

Volunteer for ChickTech: High SchoolChickTech, a nonprofit that encourages girls and women to pursue careers and higher education in STEM, is still looking for drivers and general volunteers to help out at its June 24 workshop event! The event goes from 8:00 AM through 8:00 PM and will be held at HP's Corvallis campus. To learn more or to sign up for an activity/time slot, please send an email to anne.lei@chicktech.org or corvallis@chicktech.org.

Code Jam Kickstart These single, online rounds of algorithmic puzzles are designed by Google engineers specifically for students. Kickstart is a great opportunity for students to develop their coding skills, get acquainted with the Code Jam competition arena, and potentially get noticed by Google recruiters, too. (Top participants may be contacted by a Google recruiter.)

Google Actions Challenge Turn inspiration into action by building apps for the Google Assistant on Google Home, select Android devices, and the iPhone. Enter to win more than 20 prizes including a trip to Google I/O 2018. Your app must be approved by August 31 to be eligible, so start building! Entry info and contest guidelines are at g.co/actionschallenge.

LGBT Engineering Conference October 20-22 | Palo Alto, CA LGBTQ Engineering student? You can attend the Out for Undergrad: Engineering Conference in Palo Alto. The due date for the priority round of applications is April 28, but applications will be accepted until May 14. Each year, we select a diverse class of top-performing LGBTQ students from around the country. We invite them to attend our industry-focused conferences: weekend-long summits where we work with LGBTQ professionals to educate students about job opportunities in highly competitive industries — and inspire them to pursue challenging, ambitious careers.

SCHOLARSHIPS/FELLOWSHIPS

AfterCollege Engineering & Technology Student Scholarship $500 - Open to currently enrolled students pursuing a degree in a field of engineering, technology and/or mathematics. Minimum 3.0 GPA. Must be a U.S. Citizen. Application deadline: June 30.

AfterCollege STEM Inclusion Scholarship $500 - Open to currently enrolled students working toward a degree in a field of Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics from a group underrepresented in their field of study. Underrepresented groups may be defined by: gender, race, ethnic background, disability, sexual orientation, age, socio-economic status, nationality and other non-visible differences. Minimum 3.0 GPA. Application deadline: June 30.

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JOB SEARCH AND CAREER ADVICE

Cracking The Code: How To Make The Most Of Your Summer Engineering Internship Internships are an opportunity for students to acquire new skills, gain credentials for a first job, and create long-standing relationships with mentors and peers. But as the youngest and most entry-level employees at a company, it can be challenging for students to navigate their newly minted roles. To help students make the most of their internships, we spoke to six recent grads who turned internships at companies like Snap, Cadre, and Facebook into full-time offers. Forbes

10 ways to get your boss's attentionHere are 10 time-tested techniques that will get your performance noticed by your boss. As you read through the list, think about your own performance. How many items on the list are part of your work style? How many do you fail to use? These are important questions to answer as you seek upward mobility within your company. Portland Business Journal

The 20 Hottest Cities for Tech Jobs Now A diaspora of tech talent, driven by Silicon Valley's tumbling job market and sky-high rents, has pushed tech job seekers to some surprising places. Job search site ZipRecruiter recently analyzed its database of more than 8 million active jobs, and ranked the 20 fastest-growing tech markets based on year-over-year data. Job growth for engineering, software, and IT roles may be losing steam in the Bay Area, but smaller cities are picking up the slack, the company says. Money

JOBS

Undergraduate Teaching Assistant - OSU Department of PhysicsThe Undergraduate Teaching Assistant assists instructors in undergraduate level Physics courses as directed. Duties may include proctoring exams or grading homework, mid-term and final exams. More advanced students may run discussion or laboratory sections.

Collaboratory Developer - OSU School of Electrical and Computer Engineering This position performs a wide variety of work that supports the quality of education in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the university. Collaboratory Developers work to create new and targeted solutions for education, industry, and research. These positions can include multiple aspects including: electronic design, coding, mechanical design, web coding, hardware fabrication, store clerk sales, and tutorial development.

Specialist Engineer JD - HP Security Lab, Bristol UKThe research agenda in the Security Lab is broad, and we are constantly innovating across device security, infrastructure security and security management. This position will be within our infrastructure security team, where we develop new paradigms for securing current and future device eco-systems. Our work ranges from communications security architectures, to user authentication paradigms or the security of provisioning and management architectures that support an increasingly diverse range of devices and usage models.

Web Developer - OSU Extended Campus The Web Developer provides programming support for OSU Extended Campus programmatic and course needs. This position works as part of the Course Development and Training team, collaborating with faculty, administrators and other clients to design and develop instructional technology and other web-based educational resources for courses and modules. This Web Developer designs, develops, tests, implements, and maintains web and multimedia applications. This position collaborates with colleagues in OSU Extended Campus and other partners to design and assemble the programming and media necessary to carry out design plans as conceived by assigned instructional designers.

Junior Software Engineer - Act-On Software Act-On Software is seeking energetic, progressive, Software Engineers to develop world class solutions that will change the future of Marketing. You will use the latest technologies to expand and develop a cutting edge SaaS enterprise in the cloud. Responsible for full lifecycle development. Provide software development while ensuring quality assurance. Support, maintain and document software functionality. Seek guidance to plan and accomplish goals. Comply with all applicable product development processes. Maintain and evolve software design documents based on evolving system requirements.

Test Technician - PMIC An established materials testing laboratory is seeking a skilled technician to assist in testing advanced materials used in the aerospace industry and in other applications. The candidate should have a basic understanding of the physics of materials and have experience using laboratory test equipment. The candidate will operate in a laboratory environment to prepare specimens, perform testing, and process test data. The candidate must have good technical skills, be able to keep good records, pay attention to detail, be able to thoroughly follow instructions, and have mechanical assembly aptitude. The candidate must be able to read and interpret mechanical drawings and work instructions.

Partial list of jobs posted in the past week through LinkedIn (these are just a few of the hundreds of jobs listed). Sample jobs: